Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

By the time Seraphine got into the passenger seat, there was a lightness in her mood that hadn’t been there earlier, like some of the pressure weighing on her had finally eased, and the moment she told Corvine about Zane coming on board, his reaction came fast and unfiltered.

"Do you have some kind of charm that makes men fold the second they see you, or is there something I’m missing here?" Corvine asked, glancing at her with a teasing grin that made it clear he wasn’t entirely joking.

He still couldn’t wrap his head around it, because someone like Zane wasn’t the type to bend easily, yet somehow, Seraphine had gotten him to agree to walk away from everything and start over, all because she saved his father.

Seraphine leaned back slightly, a knowing smile on her lips as she replied, "Isn’t that the same reason you’re here with me, or should I assume I used that same charm on you too?"

Corvine let out a short laugh, shaking his head as the tension in the car faded into something more familiar and easy between them.

As the conversation settled, Seraphine pulled her laptop toward her and began going through the information Voren had mentioned about the bombs hidden within Santiago’s fortress, her focus sharpening as she worked through the details, because whenever Corvine was driving, she treated that time as an opportunity to either get a quick rest or push through more work, and this time, her mind refused to slow down. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

She didn’t even notice how much time had passed until the car came to a stop, the subtle halt pulling her attention away from the screen.

"We’ve got company," Corvine said, Seraphine looked up immediately.

Daisy’s parents, Einstein and Madison.

Seraphine closed her laptop without a word and handed it to Corvine before stepping out of the car, her movements calm but guarded as she faced them directly.

"How did you find my address?" she asked, her voice steady but edged with tension she wasn’t trying to hide.

She had always cared about them, had always seen them as more than just Daisy’s parents because of how Madison had treated her over the years, but after everything Daisy and Ravyn had done to her daughter, her emotions had become complicated, tangled in a way she couldn’t easily sort through.

"It wasn’t easy," Madison admitted, her voice carrying both relief and exhaustion. "We had to reach out to Alpha Humphrey and practically beg before he agreed to give us your address."

She took a small step forward, her expression filled with regret as she continued, "Sera, I had no idea what Daisy had been doing all this time until Alpha Ravyn contacted Einstein and told him everything."

Seraphine studied her for a moment, and slowly, some of the tightness in her chest eased, because nothing about Madison or Einstein seemed different, and they still looked like the same people she had known before, the same warmth, the same sincerity that had once made her feel like she belonged somewhere.

"It’s not your fault," Seraphine said after a brief pause, her voice softening just slightly. "I was hurt by everything Daisy did, and that’s why I—"

"You stopped sending the medicines and vitamins," Madison finished for her gently, her eyes glistening as she nodded. "And honestly, we understood, because anyone in your position would have done the same."

She let out a quiet breath before adding, "But you still kept sending us money even after finding out everything, and we only realized that later when Kylie told us, which made it even harder to process."

Her voice broke slightly as she continued, emotion spilling through despite her effort to hold it together. "Sera, I still can’t believe that I gave birth to someone who could do something like that, and I am so sorry for everything she put you through, so please... forgive me."

Einstein stood firmly beside her, his presence steady as he spoke up with quiet resolve. "I already made it clear to Alpha Ravyn that we are cutting all ties with Daisy, because what she did is something we can never stand behind."

Seraphine’s brows drew together slightly at that, a flicker of something complicated passing through her eyes, because while her own mother had never given her the care she needed, Madison had filled that space in ways that still meant something to her, and yet, the reality remained that Daisy, their daughter, had been the one causing her pain all along.

"You don’t have to do that because of me," Seraphine said seriously, her gaze moving between them. "Daisy is still your daughter no matter what she’s done."

Einstein shook his head without hesitation, his voice firm as he responded, "And so are you, because we haven’t forgotten everything you did for her over the years."

His words carried weight as he continued, each detail bringing back memories Seraphine had long tried to bury.

"With her condition and her rare blood type, you were the one who kept donating blood to keep her alive, you were the one who stayed by her side through everything, you shared your life with her without holding anything back, and after all of that, she turns around and takes your home from you, so no, we cannot support that no matter how we look at it."

For a moment, Seraphine found herself pulled back into those memories, the sacrifices she had made for Daisy rising to the surface in a way she hadn’t allowed herself to think about in a long time, and if not for her parents standing there reminding her, she might have continued to ignore it entirely.

There had even been a time when she wondered if they had known about Daisy’s actions all along, if they had silently supported it, but standing here now, it was clear that they hadn’t.

"I’m sorry I haven’t kept in touch," Seraphine said after a moment, her tone calmer now, though still carrying a hint of the exhaustion she had been pushing through. "Things have been overwhelming lately, but we shouldn’t be standing out here like this, so let’s go inside and talk properly."

Madison, however, shook her head almost immediately, stopping her from moving forward, and what she said next stirred something deep within Seraphine, something unexpected and quietly emotional that she wasn’t prepared for.